www.bbc.com Open in urlscan Pro
151.101.128.81  Public Scan

Form analysis
0 forms found in the DOM

Text Content

LET US KNOW YOU AGREE TO COOKIES

We use cookies to give you the best online experience. Please let us know if you
agree to all of these cookies.

Yes, I agree

No, take me to settings

BBC Homepage
 * Skip to content
 * Accessibility Help

 * Sign in


 * Home
 * News
 * Sport
 * Reel
 * Worklife
 * Travel
 * Future
 * More menu

More menu
Search BBC
 * Home
 * News
 * Sport
 * Reel
 * Worklife
 * Travel
 * Future
 * Culture
 * Music
 * TV
 * Weather
 * Sounds

Close menu
BBC News
Menu
 * Home
 * War in Ukraine
 * Climate
 * Video
 * World
 * UK
 * Business
 * Tech
 * Science
 * Stories

More
 * Entertainment & Arts
 * Health
 * World News TV
 * In Pictures
 * Reality Check
 * Newsbeat
 * Long Reads

 * N. Ireland
 * N. Ireland Politics




EUROMILLIONS: 'IT'LL BE FUN TO GIVE AWAY' SAY NI JACKPOT COUPLE

Published
4 January 2019

Share
close panel
Share page
Copy link
About sharing

This video can not be played


TO PLAY THIS VIDEO YOU NEED TO ENABLE JAVASCRIPT IN YOUR BROWSER.

Media caption,

Frances and Patrick Connolly recount how they realised they had picked the
winning numbers

A couple from Northern Ireland have made a list of 50 people with whom they
intend to share their £115m EuroMillions win.

Frances and Patrick Connolly, who live in Moira, County Down, matched the
winning numbers in the New Year's Day draw.

It is the fourth biggest UK EuroMillions win and the biggest in NI.

The lucky pair's identities were revealed at a press conference just outside
Belfast on Friday.

Speaking to the media, Frances Connolly said the money will be shared between
family, friends and charitable causes.

Image source, PAcemaker
Image caption,
The couple have made a list of people they want to share their win with

"This is a massive sum of money and we want it to have a huge impact on the
lives of other people we know and love, as well as on our future too."



The 52-year-old said the most important thing they have done since their win was
to have made a list of people they want to give the money to.


'WONDERFUL FAMILY'

"At the minute there are about 50 people," she said, adding that most of those
on the list do not yet know they are on it.

"It's going to be so much fun giving it away," she said. "The pleasure for me is
going to be seeing their faces."

Her husband Patrick Connolly, 54, said: "I've got a wonderful wife, a wonderful
family and wonderful friends, so this is the icing on the cake.


Image caption,
Patrick Connolly said he was "blessed with a great family" before the win

"Money doesn't bring you happiness. We already had happiness and were very
blessed in life."

Mr Connolly is a businessman who once ran his own firm. He predicted he would
not be able to sit around long before he had to get back to doing something.



He said his expertise was in manufacturing and he hoped to create more jobs
using part of their fortune.

They said they were hard-working people who did not carry a lot of debt and did
not indulge in luxuries before their win.

"We are quite level-headed people, we're not overly extravagant - yet," said Mr
Connolly.

Asked by a reporter if they had thought about personal security, Mrs Connolly
quipped: "I've never met anyone I couldn't take down myself!"


'WHIRLWIND'

The couple - who have three daughters and three grandchildren - are regular
Lotto players but only normally buy tickets for EuroMillions when there is a big
jackpot.

The pair live in a rented home and were previously considering a move to Croydon
in March as Mr Connolly had been offered a new job as an operations manager.



Mrs Connolly, who had worked as an educational programme coordinator, is
planning to do a PhD in clinical psychology.

Image source, PAcemaker
Image caption,
The couple laughed and joked with the assembled press

The winning numbers - 01, 08, 11, 25, 28, with Lucky Stars 04 and 06 - were
selected at random, they said.

"Totally random, sure how would you pick those numbers? They're weird," Mrs
Connolly joked, before adding that a holiday to Mauritius is on the cards.

She admitted that she will find it heartbreaking to read letters from people the
couple cannot help, adding: "It will keep me up at night."

After the press conference, the couple went outside the hotel and laughed and
joked as they sprayed champagne and kissed for photographers.

At one point, Mrs Connolly joked with the assembled media pack that she only
wanted images that showed her with "one chin".

The grandparents punched the air and waved their bumper cheque as the champagne
flowed to toast their win.

After spraying multiple bottles, Mrs Connolly asked lottery advisers: "Who's
going to clean all this up?"


'LIFE-CHANGING'

Speaking to BBC News NI, Andy Carter of the National Lottery said its most
important role is "looking after someone as they're going through a really
life-changing experience".

"We make sure they have access to good legal advice and good financial advice,
but it's primarily about supporting them through a period of both shock and
excitement," he said.

Mr Carter explained that the decision on whether or not to go public about a win
can be a difficult one.

"The greatest advice is to take your time - do nothing quickly. Our advice is go
away and have a holiday - take some time to really come to terms with it."

He added that past winners rarely make ostentatious purchases at an early stage.

"We often ask them what was your first purchase and they'll say the toilet seat
was broken or the kettle wasn't working. Nothing surprises us!"


PAST WINNERS

Northern Ireland has had a history of big wins.

In December 2013, an unemployed woman from Strabane, County Tyrone, won almost
£27m in the EuroMillions lottery.

At the time, Margaret Loughrey said that on the day she bought the ticket, she
had been to the job market to get an application form for a job with a charity.

In 2004, a cancer patient from Belfast became the biggest ever winner of the
UK's National Lottery.

Iris Jeffrey scooped £20.1m with a ticket she bought on 14 July but only
realised she had hit the jackpot the following month after hearing an appeal by
lottery organisers Camelot.


MORE ON THIS STORY

 * UK EuroMillions winner claims £115m prize
   
   Published
   2 January 2019
   
   





TOP STORIES

 * Live. 
   
   Moscow buildings hit in rare drone attack after strikes in Kyiv

 * Watch: Drone flies past Moscow outskirts. VideoWatch: Drone flies past Moscow
   outskirts
   
   Published
   1 hour ago

 * AI could lead to extinction, experts warn
   
   Published
   18 minutes ago




FEATURES

 * After a synagogue shooting, can a community heal?
   
   

 * The 'exploding' demand for giant heat pumps
   
   

 * Holmes is going to jail. Will she pay victims too?
   
   
 * 

 * The Thai election upstart who vows to be different
   
   

 * Teary reunion of Indians after a century-long separation
   
   

 * Crackdown is 'untenable', Imran Khan tells BBC
   
   

 * What to expect from newly emboldened Erdogan
   
   

 * Why famous faces are popping up on UK streets
   
   

 * The generation clocking the most hours
   
   




ELSEWHERE ON THE BBC

 * Why it's 'imperative' to start using AI
   
   

 * Jellyfish blooms: Why not just eat them?
   
   

 * A 5,000-year-old craft under threat
   
   




MOST READ

 1.  1
     AI could lead to extinction, experts warn
 2.  2
     Holmes is going to jail. Will she pay victims too?
 3.  3
     Alleged ex-Russian spy whale spotted near Sweden
 4.  4
     Polish probe into 'Russian influence' angers EU
 5.  5
     Top Chinese scientist says don’t rule out Covid lab leak
 6.  6
     Malaysia says China ship looted British WW2 wrecks
 7.  7
     Man attacked Cumberbatch's home with fish knife
 8.  8
     Agents die when boat capsizes on Italian lake
 9.  9
     Peacekeepers in the middle as Kosovo-Serbia row escalates
 10. 10
     Booking.com guests turning up at family's home





BBC NEWS SERVICES

 * On your mobile
 * On smart speakers
 * Get news alerts
 * Contact BBC News

 * Home
 * News
 * Sport
 * Reel
 * Worklife
 * Travel
 * Future
 * Culture
 * Music
 * TV
 * Weather
 * Sounds

 * Terms of Use
 * About the BBC
 * Privacy Policy
 * Cookies
 * Accessibility Help
 * Parental Guidance
 * Contact the BBC
 * Get Personalised Newsletters
 * Why you can trust the BBC
 * Advertise with us
 * Do not share or sell my info

© 2023 BBC. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read
about our approach to external linking.